Bigman’s Training Reports

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Could be a backline dasher

Maybe… Cook?

He certainly can't find enough of the ball himself unfortunately so it makes sense to put it in his hands

 

[Carmo]

Cook and Nank auditioning for the old Brodie Smith

33

Brodie Smith

Age

33

Ht

194cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.5

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

7.2

4star

M

4.2

4star

T

2.1

4star

MG

500.1

5star

D

17.1

4star

K

12.6

5star

HB

4.5

3star

M

3.5

3star

T

2.3

3star

MG

438.9

5star

D

17.2

5star

K

10.8

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

3.6

5star

role?? Sounds like it, especially for Cook.

 

[1970crow]

Feel bad for the lad given how bad he wants the opportunity.

There’s always the MSD. We’ll have someone to put on the inactive list by then. I expect we’ll keep him around or close eyes on him.

 

[1970crow]

Hearing some pretty nasty injury whispers re Sid Draper from those close to his camp.

If true, the melts on here will be monumental, as in, up to 12 months worth of melts..

Nah, Burgo wouldn’t oversee injury mismanagement. He was the second coming of Christ, was even going to fix selection by overruling all the coaches.

 

[1970crow]

Don't mind the idea of Cook being our designated kick-in player. His biggest issue is getting involved in the play, so there's a way to give him a bunch of extra possessions!

Have you had a look at the depth chart for a back 6 spot compared to front 6? Cook will be miles off getting a crack back there.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

There’s always the MSD. We’ll have someone to put on the inactive list by then. I expect we’ll keep him around or close eyes on him.

The question still is do we really need to add another player to our list now?

If we don't think there is a player we will use by the MSD, would we be better waiting to evaluate further?

 

[Betts are off]

Thanks Bigman,

Could you keep an eye out to see if Curtin takes any ruck contests this offseason. With the move away from the Mauler ruckman I could see a reality where he could take some taps.

I remember an article from his junior coach who said something about anytime they were losing at 3/4 time they would flick the Curtin Switch and put Dan in the ruck. And never lost. Does make me curious about how that would look.

 

[Slim258]

Thanks Bigman,

Could you keep an eye out to see if Curtin takes any ruck contests this offseason. With the move away from the Mauler ruckman I could see a reality where he could take some taps.

I remember an article from his junior coach who said something about anytime they were losing at 3/4 time they would flick the Curtin Switch and put Dan in the ruck. And never lost. Does make me curious about how that would look.

I don't think they'd do that too him, he's too valuable of an asset around the ground, I think this is where Turray and Maley are going to be coming in as those battering rams

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I don't think they'd do that too him, he's too valuable of an asset around the ground, I think this is where Turray and Maley are going to be coming in as those battering rams

Probably more of a case of around the ground, where the umpires are going to ball it up quickly & not necessarily wait for the ruckmen to arrive to the contest.

 

[crowutopia]

Who would Cook have to replace ? .....Hinge has periods of extraordinary exquisite play ....then other times he's a liability, going unseen or having howlers of play ....he's hard to figure

Good question, I will like to think it's Laird with a 5 man bench rotation? We really need to see if Cook can offer something back there before we cut him loose

 

[1990crow]

If Draper is cooked I'm not so enthused about 2026.

 

[Syd Crow]

Doesn’t have to be physical

Olivia disagrees.....

 

[Mutineer]

So can anyone give me the official link to where this Sid Draper news is coming from because the only mention I've seen in the media is it's a back issue he's dealing with, surely that would have been sourced from the club?

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

If Draper is cooked I'm not so enthused about 2026.

Given that our midfield improvement largely rests on the shoulders of Curtin and Draper's next few seasons it is a worry

We need them both to become blue chippers

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

The majority of the session involved three different drills that five groups rotated through. Two of the drills were quite similar, involving two groups each and both were all about clean ball movement (and defending said ball movement).

Both drills did not allow a grounded ball, as in which case it would be an automatic turnover. It obviously placed a lot of pressure on kicks hitting the target and definitely separated some of the good kicks from the lesser

Thanks again for the report

Really interested in this

Obviously teams want to play clean, precise football. However against top teams especially in September this isn't always possible

I heard Mark Williams speak once and he said that training had to be messy. There needed to be pressure that created errors because that's what games were like. If the ball was moving beautifully, player to player, never hitting the ground at training then that was bad because finals are never like that.

I wonder if:
1) We will use these activities to identify the weaker disposers of the ball and not select them (I have my doubts here)
2) Will players choose safe options (short kicks, backwards, zero hurt factor) so that they don't risk turnover

Other clubs seem to be shying away from worrying about mistakes or things that might go wrong (Chris Fagan: "Run towards the fire"). They accept some errors will occur, take the game on anyway, no fear

Are we going the wrong way by trying to be precise and neat?

It felt like we moved towards a turnover-reduction-focus as last season wore on. The high scoring, free flowing football that suited our forward line but risked being scored against was reeled in. We became more careful and I'm not sure it played to our strengths.

 

[Gtowncrow]

Thanks Bigman,

Could you keep an eye out to see if Curtin takes any ruck contests this offseason. With the move away from the Mauler ruckman I could see a reality where he could take some taps.

I remember an article from his junior coach who said something about anytime they were losing at 3/4 time they would flick the Curtin Switch and put Dan in the ruck. And never lost. Does make me curious about how that would look.

I'm pretty sure that the rule changes will have a significant change to ruck strategy and personnel.

Rucks will need to be at ball ups much sooner next year as the umpire won't be waiting, making ruck contests needing to be contested by 'impromptu ruckmen ' a common thing in 2026.

Different strategies might even see centre bounce rucks becoming specialists and interchanging off asap after a centre bounces.
Or forward or backline only rucks?

Who knows at this stage but Dan Curtin is an option if needed.

McAndrew is tall. How does this help?
Maley can jump. Useful?
Time will tell?

However, the gut running ROB might have lost his greatest asset to the team as he can't jump or get to all contests quickly.

2026 will require more on field ruck options.

 

[Gtowncrow]

Thanks again for the report

Really interested in this

Obviously teams want to play clean, precise football. However against top teams especially in September this isn't always possible

I heard Mark Williams speak once and he said that training had to be messy. There needed to be pressure that created errors because that's what games were like. If the ball was moving beautifully, player to player, never hitting the ground at training then that was bad because finals are never like that.

I wonder if:
1) We will use these activities to identify the weaker disposers of the ball and not select them (I have my doubts here)
2) Will players choose safe options (short kicks, backwards, zero hurt factor) so that they don't risk turnover

Other clubs seem to be shying away from worrying about mistakes or things that might go wrong (Chris Fagan: "Run towards the fire"). They accept some errors will occur, take the game on anyway, no fear

Are we going the wrong way by trying to be precise and neat?

It felt like we moved towards a turnover-reduction-focus as last season wore on. The high scoring, free flowing football that suited our forward line but risked being scored against was reeled in. We became more careful and I'm not sure it played to our strengths.

Really interesting point about the poor disposers.
I wonder what our 23 would look like if disposal was weighted higher in selection?

Thoughts?

 

[Not Darryl Moss]

Thanks again for the report

Really interested in this

Obviously teams want to play clean, precise football. However against top teams especially in September this isn't always possible

I heard Mark Williams speak once and he said that training had to be messy. There needed to be pressure that created errors because that's what games were like. If the ball was moving beautifully, player to player, never hitting the ground at training then that was bad because finals are never like that.

I wonder if:
1) We will use these activities to identify the weaker disposers of the ball and not select them (I have my doubts here)
2) Will players choose safe options (short kicks, backwards, zero hurt factor) so that they don't risk turnover

Other clubs seem to be shying away from worrying about mistakes or things that might go wrong (Chris Fagan: "Run towards the fire"). They accept some errors will occur, take the game on anyway, no fear

Are we going the wrong way by trying to be precise and neat?

It felt like we moved towards a turnover-reduction-focus as last season wore on. The high scoring, free flowing football that suited our forward line but risked being scored against was reeled in. We became more careful and I'm not sure it played to our strengths.

Very interesting! Vee haff vays ov making you talk...

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Really interesting point about the poor disposers.
I wonder what our 23 would look like if disposal was weighted higher in selection?

Thoughts?

Would we be able to field a team? Haha

 

[Golumless]

Who would Cook have to replace ? .....Hinge has periods of extraordinary exquisite play ....then other times he's a liability, going unseen or having howlers of play ....he's hard to figure

If Cook starts balling out throughout preseason? Either Hinge/Milera. Both have periods of exquisite play, but neither have the resume to hold out against someone putting up big numbers.

If Cook settles into a B grade option, he's probably just waiting for an injury.

 

[jackster83]

If Cook starts balling out throughout preseason? Either Hinge/Milera. Both have periods of exquisite play, but neither have the resume to hold out against someone putting up big numbers.

If Cook settles into a B grade option, he's probably just waiting for an injury.

Barring injury, Milera is a lock. Regardless of form.

 

[Jetwa5h]

I'm pretty sure that the rule changes will have a significant change to ruck strategy and personnel.

Rucks will need to be at ball ups much sooner next year as the umpire won't be waiting, making ruck contests needing to be contested by 'impromptu ruckmen ' a common thing in 2026.

Different strategies might even see centre bounce rucks becoming specialists and interchanging off asap after a centre bounces.
Or forward or backline only rucks?

Who knows at this stage but Dan Curtin is an option if needed.

McAndrew is tall. How does this help?
Maley can jump. Useful?
Time will tell?

However, the gut running ROB might have lost his greatest asset to the team as he can't jump or get to all contests quickly.

2026 will require more on field ruck option

Had a discussion about this recently, what we could see is a return to a ruckman playing a kick behind and a more Fwd style ruck. E.G say one of Rob/Maley/McAndrew contest the centre bounce and no further forward than the half forward line and one of say Thilthorpe/Maley do the rucking forward possible rotating 3 of the bench through the forward line or something similar

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

If Cook starts balling out throughout preseason? Either Hinge/Milera. Both have periods of exquisite play, but neither have the resume to hold out against someone putting up big numbers.

If Cook settles into a B grade option, he's probably just waiting for an injury.

Laird back to the middle I reckon

Takes Berry's spot

 

[Golumless]

Barring injury, Milera is a lock. Regardless of form.

At the moment, sure, and that will be the case whilst we don't have someone we believe is a considerably better prospect (and it must be considerable, we do not care if Cook could be 1% better, it needs to be a serious jump in production). However, the depth chart is circumvented by putting up elite numbers.

If Cook is putting up a preseason where its genuinely comes off as elite? Milera (or Hinge) is in the twos. If not, we won't bother.

Mind you, quietly, I'm curious where Marsh fits in here seeing his draft profile screamed half back flanker. We'll see in February with that one, seeing if there is a quick contract extension, we know Marsh is not far from sitting in the top 15 of our depth chart.

Laird back to the middle I reckon

Takes Berry's spot

Certainly possible, and as a 4th mid, its a move I have a lot of time for coming into 2025. That said, I don't think it's something on the cards. It's a bit like Keays in the midfield right now, you know when it happens, the coaching box is panicking, not its a genuine plan.

Mind you, it's something we should be looking at. The only prospect on our list who is anywhere near ready for inside midfielder time is Dan Curtin (which admittedly is a huge deal, this is the superstar-in-waiting*) and equally this is a team who needs a floor raiser to win a bunch of clearances and keep things ticking over. The achillies heel of this side (and what inevitably cost us both finals**) is our current inside group is that it can go ice cold when put under pressure by the best midfield units in the game. Really, either path of **** off Peatlings midfield time entirely and give it to Laird, or commit to Peatling as a 1st change midfielder seems viable here.

The quiet benefit of moving Laird is it gives Max the space to switch over into Lairds interceptor role, seeing he's capped out as a stopper. We probably won't make that move otherwise, owing to how well our defense worked this year. Even the D50-I50 stuff is just a tweak or two to being fixed, seeing we did beat our season average by ~5% in both finals against the other two monsters at stopping ball movement.

* Should Dan Curtin break out into that? That might fix every inside midfield issue we have, noting how much having an elite player snowballs throughout a lineup.

** We are blown away on the inside in that 10-15 minute burst against Collingwood in the 3rd quarter that won them the QF and its the Hawks jumping our inside group in the early parts Q1 which causes our coaching box to panic, destroying any chance of a comeback. Considering we had escaped a few times during the season where the same collapse occurred, this is the big issue holding Adelaide back from proper contention. The rest of the game is there with some more iterations/jumps from bringing in one or two more guns (though our prospect pool is looking decently dire at this point).

 

[Slim258]

Laird back to the middle I reckon

Takes Berry's spot

Dear god, I hope not